Eternal Life?
by Drowning Rooster
Summary: This continues from the Realm of the Gods. Daine knows Numair isn’t going to live forever. Realising that she is half god, she may live a great deal longer than him. Together they set out, to find a way to live happily together in the Mortal Realms.
1. Prologue: Dreams

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Eternal Life
    
    Prologue – Dreams

Author's Note: This is my second fic! My first fic is 'Two Alannas?' for anyone who feels like reviewing it *hint hint*. Then I had this idea in the middle, well, still the start, of my first fic, and decided to write this fic as well. This is hopefully going too be very fluffy, to make up for the absence of fluff in my other fic. R/r!

~

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She slept. She dreamt.

Numair lay on the ground, dried blood on his temples, and on his chin.

'Numair!' she cried, rushing towards him. With every step she took, he seemed to get further away. Finally she reached him. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him gently. He was cold, stone cold. The tree he lay slumped against seemed to shake with evil laughter, cackling and waving its branches in the air, blocking out the sun. Darkness settled over her.

'Numair!' she cried. 'NUMAIR!'

Daine awoke, breathing heavily. Her lover, Numair Salmalín, slept on the other side of the room. He looked... peaceful. There was nothing to show he was still alive other than the steady rising and falling of his chest, and the sound of his breathing. Listening to him breath, she relaxed. He was alive. She sat up suddenly. What if she was to die before her? She probably was going to outlive him anyway, as she was younger than him, and females often lived longer than males. But... _she was half god!_ What if she lived forever in the Mortal Realm, but Numair died and went to the Dark God's Realm? She might be able to live without him for a few years, but _forever_?! She sunk into an uneasy sleep.

'Kit?' a deep voice murmured. Daine opened her eyes and looked into the snuffly face of the badger god.

'What are you doing here?' she asked in surprise.

'You have questions, kit.' he explained to her. 'I have come to answer them.'

'Oh.' she replied. There was a pause.

'Aren't you going to ask your questions?'

'Okay... well... I'm not sure how to start this. Um...'

'I'm listening, kit.' There was another pause.

Then she blurted out, 'When will I die? Will I ever die? And what about _Numair_? What if when we die, I go to the Divine Realms, but Numair goes to the Black God's Realm?'

The badger patted her head with his furry paw.

'Kit.' he murmured fondly, but there was sadness in his voice. 'Kit. You must acknowledge that when you were born, your father was a god, your mother a mortal.'

'I know.' she said softly, remembering her mother when she had been alive in the Mortal Realm. And the sadness in her eyes and face when Daine had insisted she couldn't stay in the Divine Realm. 'I'm half god.'

'Yes kit, that is how things would normally be.' agreed the badger. 'But no, that is not the case. Now your mother is also a divine being.'

'So I'm completely god?' asked a very confused Daine.

'Ah, not that either-'

'So what am I?' interrupted Daine worriedly, anxious to know the answers to her questions.

'As gods can, um... 'update' your origins, kit-'

'So I'm completely god, yet half god?' Daine asked, now completely bewildered.

'Fairly accurate, kit.' the badger replied, trying to smile at her. His smile faded. 'This is a very rare situation, kit. In fact, I don't think this has happened before. In answer to your questions, well... Numair will go to the Dark God's Realm. You will live forever unless slain. But slaying you will be close to impossible. When you die, you will get a choice, similiar to Mithros' options that he gave you before.' Daine's heart sunk. So it was back to this. 'You may go to the Dark God's Realm, because of the previous mortility of you mother, or the Divine Realm, home of your father, and now your mother as well.' Daine could have wept. Her _parents_, or _Numair_?'

'I have to choose between my _parents_ and _Numair_?' she choked out. The badger nodded sorrowfully. _Parents? Or Numair? Parents?_ _Or Numair?_ The question played itself over and over in her head.Images, memories; all playing themselves in head as well. Her mother taking her to feed Cloud when she was six. Numair teaching her to use her wild magic. The first time she had met her father face to face. When she thought Ozorne had had Numair beheaded. All of these thoughts and memories whirled round and round in her head, building up pressure.

'Noooooo!' (AN: Hehe!)

She sat up suddenly. Numair sat at her side, stroking her hand. His sweat-soaked handkerchief had been flung forward from her forehead when she had sat up, and was now lying on the bedsheets. His face was full of concern, and he was watching her face intently.

'Are you all right, Magelet?' he asked worriedly.

'I've got to choose, Numair.' she sobbed, and fell into his arms. Her head rested on his shoulder, and she whispered the dreadful words in his ear. 'Between you, and Ma and Da.'

~

Author's Note: There. What do you think? Lots and lots of fluff will come soon, hopefully. But beware! This is going to be the first time I write fluff ever! I have never written fluff before! *Looks around in despair as everyone leaves* *yells* I'll try though! Also, if you haven't read 'Two Alannas?', please go and read it!


	2. Chapter 1: Dependence

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Eternal Life

Chapter 1: Dependence

Author's Note: New chappie! Finally! Wilting Rose said it was cruel to finish where I did! I didn't think so! I thought it was a good place to end! Um... Anyway, here's the chappie!

~

Daine sniffed, and hugged Numair tighter. He was still sat on the edge of her bed, and he was being close to suffocated. The hug before had been tight enough, but _now_?

With an effort, he managed to wheeze, 'Daine, please let go.' With a sob she let go and went limp. He held onto her and whispered in her ear. 'Not _that_ tight, Magelet. That hurts! You're not trying to kill your old man, are you?'

With this reference to a dead Numair, Daine only sobbed harder. _Bad joke, Numair._ thought Daine, on the verge of hysteria. _Why couldn't you have joked about something else? Why joke about being dead? Why?_ Numair looked worriedly at her face. She was upset, he could tell that much. Why? It had something to do with him and her parents, and some sort of choice, but that was all he had managed to gather from what she had been saying. _Something about being dead as well,_ he decided.

'Magelet?' he asked gently. 'What's wrong? Tell Nummy.'

'It's _Numy_.' She corrected, though still sobbing. 'I...' She faltered. 'I... Numy, The badger visited me in my dream. He told me I'll never die unless slain, and when I die...' She hiccuped.

'Yes Magelet?' he asked gently. 'Numy's here.' Hearing the word 'Numy', she smiled slightly.

''I have to choose whether to go the Dark God's Realm or the Divine Realm.' There was silence in the dark room. Light was blotted out completely as all sorts of animals clustered around the windows, trying to get to their distraught friend. The window opened, as black fire laced around them. Animals burst through them and huddled around her.

Stroking a bat's small furry head, she remarked, 'Numy, I thought you couldn't do small magics.'

'I can't.' he replied, smiling slightly. 'All the windows in the castle have opened. The King's probably going to have a fit in the morning.' Daine tried to grin back at him.

'It's cold. Would you close the windows again, please Numy?' He nodded, and more black fire laced around the windows as they clicked shut.

'Get some sleep, Magelet.' he told her. 'We'll work things out in the morning.'

'Okay.' she murmured, then closed her eyes and lay her head down on the pillow again. Within minutes she was asleep again, Numair watching her face intently. Hearing a fainted sound coming from the door, he swiftly and quietly got up, picking up the rather soggy handkerchief as he did so. He gripped the door handle with one hand, and brandished the handkerchief with the other, then yanked the door open.

A stream of animals burst in, and huddled round Daine. Numair sighed, and closed the door. He couldn't even see Daine any more, and from the way the animals were behaving, he wasn't needed, either. He stifled a yawn and went back to bed.

~

Daine looked around in bewilderment. Where was she? Where were all the animals' voices? She turned around, and upon seeing the badger god, promptly sat down on a large rock that had helpfully appeared.

'I know I have more questions,' she groaned under her breath, 'but I think I'm happier with them unanswered.'

'No, kit, you are not,' the badger told her mock-sternly. 'Anyway, I promised Weiryn I wouldn't let you fumble your way alone. Right, question one?'

'But... okay. Can't Numy come with me to the Divine Realm?'

'No, kit, he can't. You know that.'

'But Da brought Ma!'

'But your Da had to petition, and even so he wouldn't have been allowed if there had been no vacancy.'

'Vacancy?'

'Yes, there was no goddess of child-birth and whatever yet: there was no Green Lady.'

'What if I called Numy the Blue Stork? Could he come then?' Daine was now slightly hysterical.

The badger shook his head slightly.

'The Purple Umbrella? The Yellow Mouse? The-'

'No kit, he could not come.'

'Well... how come I have to choose? I thought I was done with choosing!'

'Ah.. we come to the glitch.' the badger murmured, half to himself. He looked Daine in the eye; 'Do you remember the exact words Mithros said when he banned you from crossing the Realms?'

'Um... 'You bad girl, Daine! How dare you be a Daine! Never be a Dai-' '

'No. He did not say that. He said you were to never cross 'the Realms' again. How many Realms do you know of?'

'Um.. The Realm of Chaos, The Mortal Realm, The Divine Realm, The-'

'Realm of the Dead. Exactly. That meant that you were never to die. That meant you were to be-'

'Immortal.'

'Exactly. Now, some of the more argumentative gods and goddesses decided that wasn't very fair, because you were only part god. Eventually they came to a compromise: this.' The Badger spread his paws out.

'Well, what _can_ I do then?' Daine asked helplessly. 'I going to lose my parents or Numy, and never see them again.'

'Remember, kit, Numair can't follow you to the Divine Realm when he dies, but is there a way to stop him from crossing the Realms while you don't either?'

'Do you mean mortals can become immortal?' she asked, hope lighting up her face. The scenery around her began to fade. 'Is that what you mean?' she shouted.

'Just remember what I told you,' his voice returned in the wind.

~

Daine awoke and sat up, animals moaning because they had been disturbed. 'Thank you,' she whispered to them all.

She heard footsteps, and Numair appeared in her vision, carrying a glass of water. She shook her head slightly, and smiled her thanks at him. After looking at the bed completely covered in animals, he contented himself by sitting on the floor.

'You feeling any better, Magelet?' he asked. She nodded.

'Heaps better,' she told him, jumped out from the bed, and landed on her beloved Numy's lap, causing him to emit a strange sound:

'Oof!'

~

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Author's Note: There. I had to rewrite this chapter coz I was typing it up when it went missing! Wah! Anyway, I've finally written something! Yay!
    
    Please R+R Two Alannas, my other fic.

Thanks List:

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CrAzYhOrSeGiRl88: Okay.

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Lady Me: It was a spur of the moment thing. I wrote that in my bio.

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moon-starx: Is five months later soon?

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Insane Horse Lover: Sorry, it's not going to happen.

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Martini: Thanks!

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Kalle: Oops. I think I have fixed most of the stuff in this chapter, though.

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Laxie_79: Thanks for the... eight reviews. ^_^

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Vulpis Lapis: Oops. Aren't the italics coming up?

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Lioness-07863: All explained in this chapter, hopefully!

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Ishmael: Um... I think I've fixed it in this chapter.


	3. Chapter 2: Decisions

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Eternal Life

Chapter 2: Decisions

Author's Note: I'm on a roll! Second chappie today!!! (Don't expect any more for a while) Well, now it's the second day I'm writing this, but I started it on the same day.

~

'Numair?'

The rather squashed Numair was still recovering from Daine's trampoline act.

'Ow. Get up a minute, Magelet?' Daine complied. 'I think you bruised my legs.'

'I think _you_ bruised my backside,' she replied, grinning wickedly.

Numair got up, shaking his head, while grinning. He took her hand, led her over to his bed, and motioned her to sit down. She sat, as did he, but leapt up again almost immediately.

'My rear end hurts.'

'Well, I'm just going to have to apply some bruise balm for you, aren't I?'

She slapped his legs lightly. He grimaced. 'And those need some too.' Her eyes danced. He stood up to wrap his arms around her tenderly.

He bent his head down to her ear, and asked softly, 'Do you still want to talk? Any more news from the badger?'

She turned her head to the side to rub her nose against his. 'Yup. But this time, _good_.'

~

Some minutes later, Numair sat on the bed, breeches down, rubbing bruise balm on one thigh while Daine did the other. The bruises faded away without trace.

'My strongest,' he explained, grinning. 'We're going to need it for that rear end of yours.'

'Why not use a weaker one, and massage for longer?' she suggested slyly.

'That's an idea. Um…' Her paused. Daine wasn't usually this… brazen. She noticed his pause, and sighed.

'The badger taught me to appreciate everything I have. Now, you going to do my bum?'

He gave her a quick hug and went into the bathroom to find some weaker balm, as Daine slid inbetween his sheets oon her stomach, tugged up the bottom of her nightshirt and pulled down the blanket slightly, so her bottom peeked out from the gap.

Numair returned, one hand behind his back. 'Couldn't find any weaker balms,' he told her, a wicked grin on his face. He held up something in the hand he'd hidden behind his back. 'But I found some whipped cream.' (AN: Don't ask.)

~

'You better make sure you remember to pack some whipped cream.' Numair had playfully tossed her over his knee, and was proceeding to wash the cream off her rear with a damp cloth and tub of water.

'Pack?' he questioned.

'Oops. Did I forget to tell you? Well. Since mortals can become immortal, we're going on an adventure to find immortality for that beautiful buttocks of yours.' She turned her head slightly to show him her moronic grin.

He sighed, rolling his eyes. This new Daine as very different from the old one. He wasn't sure she was better or worse. He dabbed a dry cloth over her rump to dry it, then put the cloth down and patted it.

'There we go, Magelet. Now how about we get some sleep?'

She yawned. Good idea.'

However, since Daine had left the warmth of her bed, the animals had filled it in, and most of them were now asleep.

'Looks like I'm stuck with you, then,' she murmured, smiling, then yawned again.

Numair gently lifted her up, and lay her on his bed, then climbed in next to her. As it was meant for a single person, it was a bit of a squeeze, but he didn't mind.

''Night Magelet.'

But she was already asleep. She rolled over to face him unconsciously, and he wrapped his arms around her lovingly. His Magelet… if she wanted immortality for his buttocks, well, he'd do whatever in his power to get it for her; or at least help.

The only thing he needed to worry about was telling King Jonathon that he couldn't serve for a while because he was going on what would probably be called a 'search for a kissing hurrok'. Surely finding immortality couldn't be that difficult or unlikely, could it?

~

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Author's Note: Thanx to all reviewers! Esp. thanx to Sir Arianna Xantara of Sesroh, who, btw, has some really great fics! If you're looking for more fics to read, CopperCurls1 and moon-starx have some great fics too.

Reviewer Thanks:

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wildmage101: Thank-you for taking the piggy poll. Now please persuade a friend to. ^_^ Thanx!

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Wildmage101: :( Why not? Silver pigs are good! ^_^

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Stargirl-rebels: I dunno. I alter Daine's world to fit the plot. ^_^

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Reya Dawnbringer: Thanx!

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CopperCurls1: Well, you spelt 'Splet' wrong! So there! (Don't tell me I'm being immature)

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moon-starx: Does this count as soon?


	4. Chapter 3: Disputes

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Eternal Life

Chapter 3: Disputes

Author's Note: I know. This story has just taken a very _weird _turn. With whipped cream… Hmm… Well, in response to whoever is thinking, _What the???_ I was bored, so Numair went and got out some whipped cream. Don't ask how that works.

Oh yeah, guess what? My school was on fire!!! We're off until January 6th now. Hopefully I should have lots more chapters written.

~

Daine was still asleep when Numair awoke. He knew he was going to have to tell the King something about his and Daine's quest, for he wanted to ask for leave, but was seriously not anticipating the moment. Feeling that now was probably as good a time as he would ever get, he set out to find the King.

However, he had no sooner than reached the end of the corridor in which his and Daine's room was situated when the King approached him. The look on the royal face was not a very promising sign. The King was furious.

'Good morning?' asked Numair rather hesitantly.

'Better than last night was,' replied the King with venom.

__

Last night? Numair wondered.

In answer to his unspoken question, the King explained angrily, 'I had just got back from a meeting with the ruler of Scanra, trying to attain peace with them. I arrived back at about the first hour in the morning, and went to use the bathroom. Then suddenly black magic – a rather familiar magic to us, isn't it – opened the window. While I was using the toilet. All of a sudden, I am swamped by animals, all clawing at the bathroom door trying to get out. Together, they managed to somehow unlock the door and swing it open. And who is outside the door at that precise moment trying to work out what all the noise is about but Thayet. She lets the animals out of the bedroom, and I am still on the toilet, attempting to use my magic to pull the door shut.'

Amusing though his King's situation was, Numair was keeping a straight face. _Oh dear, this doesn't sound good._

'What do you have to say for yourself?'

Suddenly angry that he was unwittingly acting so cowed as well as the King taking full advantage of it and reprimanding him like a small child, Numair replied with equal fury, 'I came to hand in my resignation.'

~

Daine was awakened by the movement of a warm body at her back. She'd unknowingly turned away at some point during the night, and now she turned back round to face it.

''Morning Numair,' she yawned. In reply, there was a whistle. She rubbed her eyes and opened them – and then clapped her hands over her mouth in shock. The warm body that had been behind her wasn't Numair. It was Kitten.

The young dragon whistled again.

'Kitten? What are you doing here?' she asked in surprise. 'I thought you were in Dragonlands with your grandsire!'

Kitten grinned, then jumped out of the bed, yawned and stretched, an impudent impression of Daine's morning routine that she had watched with fascination every morning when possible.

Daine, jumping out of the bed, yawning and stretching, mocked-glared, then asked, 'Where's Numair?'

Kitten replied by miming that she'd eaten him. Daine sighed. Why was Kitten behaving so ridiculously? She didn't normally act like that. Sure, she wasn't necessarily the most sensible of dragons, but she didn't randomly eat people, or claim she had. And where was Numair? And what if… What if Kitten _had_ eaten him? She _couldn't _have, could she?

Realising the absurdity of these thoughts and the worry that Kitten may have eaten Numair, Daine decided she had better sit down.

A few minutes later, Numair opened the door, and was equally surprised as Daine to see Kitten back in the vicinity. He was even more surprised to see Kitten tucked up in his bed, and Daine sitting on the edge of hers, breathing deeply with her eyes closed.

~

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Author's Note: I know, it's a short chap. Hopefully I will update again this holiday. Partway through, I realised I'd forgotten all about Kitten! That's why she randomly appeared. Yes, she's in a silly mood, but then, so am I. Thank you everyone who reviewed. ^_^ 

Reviewer Thanks: ****

Night child: Thanks! Soz it took so long to upload.

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CopperCurls1: OI! ^_^  
  
**moon-starx:** Does _this_ count as soon?

Also, my adorable lil brother is writing a fic on fictionpress – take this link to his Rooster and Drowning Rooster! YAY!


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